Combating trafficking in human beings

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Notes

1 For more information on slavery today and how to take action please see www.antislavery.org.

2 A Global Alliance Against Forced Labour: Global report under the follow-up to the ILO Declaration on fundamental principles and rights at work, International Labour Office, Geneva, Switzerland, 2005, p 46.

3 Based on the definition of trafficking in the UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children supplementing the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (2000)

4 For further information on this see Anti-Slavery International, www.antislavery.org, ‘Slavery Today’ ‘Trafficking’.

5 The last study carried out estimated between 142 and 1420 women were trafficked to the UK that year. Liz Kelly and Linda Regan ‘Stopping traffic: exploring the extent of, and responses to, trafficking in women for sexual exploitation to the UK’ Police Research Series Paper 125, Police and Reducing Crime Unit, London, UK, 2000, p v.

6 The Council of Europe was founded in 1949 and has 46 member states. It seeks to promote co-operation in Europe and the protection of human rights and democracy.

7 The EU Council Directive on the residence permit issued to third-country nationals who are victims of trafficking in human beings or who have been the subject of an action to facilitate illegal immigration who co-operate with the competent authorities, 2004/81/EC, entered into force 29 April 2004.

8 Exploitation is defined as: slavery or forced labour; use of threats, force or deception to obtain a service; or a request or inducement to get someone to undertake an activity that someone who was not young, disabled or a family member would be likely to refuse.

9 EU Council Directive on the residence permit, OJ L 261, 06/08/2004 P. 0019-0023, 32004 L 0081, (11), http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri = CELEX:32004L0081:EN:HTML.

10 The trafficking of people involves a range of human rights violations: deprivation of freedom, torture, forced labour, the whole range of labour rights, etc, which are recognized and protected in a variety of international standards. These include the European Convention on Human Rights (Articles 3, 4 and 8: torture, forced labour and family life); International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Articles 7, 8 and 9: torture, slavery and liberty and security of person); International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (Article 7: health and safety, fair wages and equal remuneration); Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (Article 6: suppress the traffic of women); Convention on the Rights of the Child (Articles 32–35: to prevent the sale and traffic of children in any form and work that is harmful to their health or development). Also of relevance are International Labour Organization Conventions Nos 29 (forced labour), 182 (on the worst forms of child labour), 97 (migration for employment) and 143 (migrant workers); the UN Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and their Families and the UN Convention on the Status of Refugees.

11 To see the full convention go to: http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/EN/Treaties/Html/197.htm.

12 To see signatories http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/Commun/ChercheSig.asp?NT = 197&CM = 8&DF = 26/01/2006&CL = ENG.

13 Currently the only support that exists in the UK is for women trafficked into prostitution. The Home Office funds the London-based Poppy Project, but only for 35 places, with access provided under narrow criteria, which includes their already having been prostituted in the country and is dependent on the woman's agreeing to co-operate with the authorities. The need for spaces has often exceeded availability, and the criteria exclude many trafficked women who need help. For further information see: http://www.poppy.ik.com/.